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Show THE STRANGE CASES OF I The Society Murder Bureau. '. " Vou (ran buy murder in Bond street, ' ' said Detective Inspector Cal-I Cal-I laghan, spacing out his words impres-! impres-! si vol y. "From whom?" asked Magnum, the J' scientific consultant. j "Kahmos is what he calls himself." I "What's the dilheidty in arresting i him 'J" J! Callaghan drew his chair 'closer. ;i "That's what I've come to consult you ' about. The man is a scoundrel of quita ' a remarkable kind. To begin with, he has undoubtedly the gift of mind reading. read-ing. Ji! we've' sent one, we've sent a dozen people men and women to Bound him. He spotted every one of them for detectives.'' "Were thev regulars?" "Four were regulars the others were men and women from outside." Cnllaghan lowered his voice, though in Magnum 's private oflice there was do likelihood of eavesdroppers. "At the present moment there is a lady of title in a certain private asylum in Sussex. Her history has been a sad one. When too young to realize what it involved, she was married to a wealthy blackguard, black-guard, and he made her life a hell. About a year ago she was drawn to eon-! eon-! suit Kahmos, and, in short, he advised ! poisoning the husband. She carried out his directions, and the remorse of it has driven her into insanity. "At the asylum all this has tome to light. Of course it's not legal evidence against Kahmos it's merely one of the indications we have. We've strong grounds for suspecting that he is doing today what Tot'ana, (Jagliostro and Nostradamus Nos-tradamus did in the past riming a society so-ciety poisoning bureau. Ostensibly he is a Bond street crystal-gazer and clairvoyant. clairvoy-ant. We could arrest him as a fortuneteller fortune-teller and have him fined, but that's not worth while. We want him on a big charge. " "You want me. to devise a scientific way of getting him?" : "Yes; and if it's of any interest to you, the commissioner asks -me to mention men-tion that there's a knighthood as well ; as a heavy consulting fee waiting." Magnum sniffed. "I've no use for frills, ' ' he said. ' ' Very well, sir; I merely mentioned it." "Sounds a dangerous business if you throw in that kind of inducement. f ' ' "That won't deter you." returned Callaghan with a shrewd touch of flattery. flat-tery. "It might be dangerous if the affair w'ere bungled, because he'd be revengeful; but with a clean-cut job we put him away for life." i "You want me as a battering-ram." was Magnum's dry comment. "Not the ; post that a man of peace would choose.'' "We want you as a scientific adviser." ad-viser." amended the detective. " Frank - lv, this case needs something boy on d the usual yard methods. We've had his j clients watched and shadowed; we've burgled his rooms; we've arranged fake i! society troubles in order to trap him. ;; But he's damnably clover and cau-i cau-i tious. " I Magnum filled a rank-smelling . curved briar pipe with a strong mix-' mix-' ture of his own particular blending; lit 1 up, and puffed in silence for some time. .; "We live in a sentimental age," he ' remarked presently. "Meaning that ?" "Meaning that ia a rational age Scotland Yrard would settle the matter I! offhand take the fellow by the scruff , of the neck and kick him out of Eng-; Eng-; land. There's far too much flabby sen-J sen-J timcnt about 'England, the Home of !: Liberty.' " ,' " 1 agree," nodded Callaghan. "But ! Scotland Yard doesn't frame the law." ! "Because of this flabby sentiment." continued Magnum contemptuously, i "I'm to waste my brain-matter over a MACsiMUM, scientific Consultant : . ' 1 ' " -e- n. .t r-, fc.-iiv.-i-- - SfTPT , - -i - i - ii , 'n;yaa "You think me a charlat an, but you are not sure." policeman 's job. ' ' " You Tl be in good company, sir Bertillon, Lomhroso."' The scientist was human enough to be susceptible to judicious flattery. "Very well," he gave in. "Go ahead and tid! me a 11 "you know about Kahmos. ' ' Magnum had a frank and robust skepticism of the power of mind-reading. .Me did not deny its possibility; his attitude was rather tha t no ply in, above-board scientific proof had as yet been given to the world. lie refused to believe on mere hearsay or the evidence evi-dence of weak-mincledj easily duped am ateurs. He had once taken part in a scientific commission to investigate the question, and, after six months' sifting of so-called "evidence" the result was his present state of mmd. Therefore, he went to call on Kahmos Kah-mos without fear of having his inmost thoughts exposed to the psychometrist. 8ince it was quite likely that Kahmos would recognize such a well-known Loudon Lou-don man as the scientific, consultant. Magnum attempted no disguise of name. Kahmos occupied one of the most curious cu-rious positions in London. It was a small two-storied house of the Georgian period, in time-mellowed red brick, surrounded sur-rounded by a stone courtyard. On three sides reared up Bond street shops and offices; at the back, a, very high wall fronted a quiet by-street of residential chambers. As a consequence, although the house could be overlooked, there was no possibility of anyone boring holes in party wall's and overhearing, as there would have been had Kahmos occupied one of the usual flats or suites of offices. of-fices. Doubtless ho had chosen the position po-sition with that advantage in mind. The main ostensible entrance was in Bond street itself, alongside a well-known well-known picture gallery, but there was , also an inconspicuous door at the back, leading into t lie by-street. Magnum was first shown into an anteroom, where a businesslike young lady of foreign vnearance sal; at a secretarial desk wiih an engagement book and telephone. TJie room was quietly papered with a cool green wallpaper wall-paper and furnished in rosewood. The young lady informed Magnum that Kahmos Kah-mos 's time was so much in demand that it was necessary to make an appointment appoint-ment a couple of days, ahead, lie had expected that, and readily agreed. : Two days later he returned at the appointed hour, and was now shown to a second anteroom of a very distinctive nature. It was wind owl ess anil hung on all sides with heavy velvet draperies of a deep blue shot from peacock to ultramarine, according to the incidence of the light, which came from a single glow-lamp on the head of a large sphinx in pure white marble at one end of the room. At the other end stood a brazier from which thin fumes curled out in slow stateliness. A couch, heavily 'cushioned in the same deep blue, invited the visitor to rest and let his senses be seduced by the perfume from the brazier and the haunting atmosphere of mystery. A concealed clock tolled out the hour with the deep, age-long notes of an Indian In-dian gong. Ten minutes passed in complete silence. si-lence. Ko sound from the outside world penetrated to that heavily curtained, window Jess room. WitJi a s tarty Magnum Mag-num realized that his will-power was in some subtle way becoming weakened. He felt as though he would be content to lie among those soft cushions for ever and ever. His high-voltage energies ener-gies were being tapped and drawn away. Magnum, with his cold scientific mind, attributed that marked lulling of the will-power to the effect of the perfume from the brazier. His keen scent had already told him that it contained pome very unusual component. Reaching into his breast pocket as though for a handkerchief hand-kerchief masking the significance of the movement in case he were being observed ob-served through some slit in the heavy draperies the scientist contrived lo open the top of a small vacuum flask and take. :i sample of the perfumed air. Another few moments passed without with-out incident, while he strove to grip hold of his drugged will. Then suddenly the velvet curtains parted at one side of the room and revealed re-vealed an open doorway into a further room, hung with draperies of a brilliant bril-liant flame color not harsh or crude or jarring to, the lulled senses, but rather uplifting, hope-inspiring, like the giory of full-flowering azaleas. It was a color that breathed -of glowing life, a color that inspired one with confidence. At the side of the doorway stood a tall, well-built man dressed in a plain, dark European costume. Ho did not affect the usual crude impressiveness of flowing oriental robes or a mask over the face, becatK-e his clients were men alid women of the world and needed a more subtle handling. He relied on the careful arrangement ar-rangement of colors in the two rooms, the drug from the brazier and his own magnetic personality. "Come in," said he gravely. "Come in and I will tell you why' you seek me." The voice was well modulated, cultured cul-tured the voice of a man of breeding accustomed to the refinements of civilization. civil-ization. Maguum could quite well believe, be-lieve, according to the detective's account, ac-count, that he was connected with a Spanish ducal house. There was no definitely foreign accent in his speech, but he enunciated his words with that careful spacing of one speaking an alien language. Magnum, rising from the softness of the couch with a perceptible effort, obeyed, and took a seat pointed out to him at one side of a low table. On the table stood a crystal covered by a cloth of black velvet; to one side was an electric standard lamp in burnished bur-nished copper, of very graceful design. With his scientific exactness of observation obser-vation he noted that the wiring of the lamp apparently ran into the floor below be-low no wires trailed disharmoniously across the Persian rugs on the floor. In the background of the room was a large bureau and bookcase also, curiously curi-ously enough, fashioned of burnished copper. A few graceful ferns in copper cop-per bowls made foils to the glowing draperies on the walls. Kahmos took a seat opposite to his client. "Well?" asked Magnum, keeping his voice as strictly neutral and unsugges-tive unsugges-tive as possible. "You are a scientist," answered the other, fixing his dark, heavily-lashed eyes full upon him. "I should know that even if it were not revealed by the stain of iodine on the little finger of your left hand. Science stamps itself it-self on the aura of its earnest students with a cold whiteness. Every profession profes-sion tinges the aura, but none so unmistakably un-mistakably as science. You have not come to me for advice or help. Your astral body does not reach out to me for help. I see it close by your side very cautious and reserved. You are endeavoring to sum me up. You think me a charlatan, but you are not sure. You would like to test me, for you doubt my powers, and it would afford you a certain scientific relish to prove me a charlatan. Very good, propose your own test, and if it comes within the scope of those powers which I have acquired during my long subjugation of the body and enloosement of the soul, I wdll carry it out. shall uot hope to convince you entirely, because you have become ingrained with the aspects of the material world. Your esoteric color is a very hard reddish-brown verging on mahogany." "Clever patter," thought Magnum. Aloud, he said: "I wanted your opinion opin-ion on a certain scientific problem of mine." "No!" cut in Kahmos sharply. ".Do not attempt to mislead me." "Prudent of him to keep off my owu ground , " thought M agnum. A loud : "Very well, I won't press the point if it's outside your province. I've heard that you can' read any sentence written on paper and sealed in an envelope. I 'd like to test that, provided you leave the room while I write my sentence." Kahmos went to the bureau and returned re-turned with pencil, paper ami envelope. These he handed to Magnum, and then withdrew. It was the opportunity for which Magnum had been angling. Under pretense pre-tense of guarding against trie I; cry, his eves darted about the room, seeking the point of attack for the forces of the law. Was it possible to get a man into this inmost room and concealed behind one of these draperies while Kahmos held his intimate conversations with his clients? ;o, out of the question. Kavesdroppinsr via the roof? No, not practical. Then an inspiration flashed upon the scientist. With the toe of his boot he pushed against the base of the electric standard lamp. As he expected, it remained firm it was screwed to the floor. Excellent! The rest of the proceeding, including the successful reading of the sentence in the scaled envelope, held no interest for him. He judged it a clever trick, but not worth' puzzling one 's brains over. A fortnight later the electric lighting in Kahmos 'B house suddenly went out of order. At unexpected and inconvenient moments the lights would grow dim or become extinguished. It was highly annoying. an-noying. He phoned to the electric lighting light-ing company and told them so. One of Callaghan 's men, placed in the office for the express purpose of hearing hear-ing and answering that complaint, either by telephone or in person, declared to Kahmos that it was no fault of the company com-pany 's main circuit. There were no complaints from houses adjoining his. There must be a flaw in his own house wiring a short circuit somewhere. Kahmos Kah-mos demanded that it be put right immediately. im-mediately. Callaghan 'a man, in the ostensible role of an electrical engineering expert, accompanied by a genuine mechanic, proceeded pro-ceeded to Kahmos 's house with a full load of tools and electric equipment. After elaborate tests, he diagnosed the trouble as having occurred below the flooring of the inner sanctum, in the wires leading to the fixed standard lamp. It would be necessary to pull up the boarding. Kahmos told them to do so, and as quickly as possible, so that his fennees could be resumed without risk of the light going out. It was a lengthy business. busi-ness. When the police official and the mechanic were through they left behind them, under the floor beneath the table with the crystal, a highly ingenious microphone mi-crophone specially prepared for the purpose pur-pose by Magnum. Acting as a telephone receiver, it was connected to the ordinary ordi-nary electric light current and could convey sounds out of the house through the minute variations it caused in the electric current. In brief, there was now an unseen listener below Kahmos 's consulting table. Callaghan engaged the top floor of a residential house iin the by-street and had telephone wires brought into it. While he or a subordinate sat listening to the consultations in Kahmos 's sanctum, sanc-tum, they could at the same time look down on "the courtyard of his house and watch the ingoings and outgoings of clients. Callaghan came to Magnum's office a few weeks later with the glint of battle in his eye. " We've got the fellow! " he declared. ' ' In prison ? " , "No, here." Callaghan opened his big fist, pajm upwards, suggestively. "Til en mind he doesn't slip through1 your fingers, ' ' warned Magnum brusquely. brus-quely. Ho had a scientific dislike to hearing the counting of unhatched chickens. Callaghan did not consider the warning warn-ing worth attention. The affair now lay in his own province. He pursued : "Your part of the work is through, sir, but I thought you would be in- tercsted to hear what's on foot, and, if you like, sit in the stalls and watch! the last act of the drama." j "Meaning the last act but one." i "That will be played off stage," re- turned the detective with grim illu-sivencss. illu-sivencss. He continued: "Two nights agj a YounK man who has dissipated a big fortune went to consult Kahmos for the third time. This young man 1 has an uncle from whom he expects a heavy legacy. Needless to say, he. has already mortgaged his expectations 1 so far as anyone would lend or them. Now he wants to come into his legacy quickly. Kahmos showed him the way to do so. " I "Then what are you waiting for?" "For the last link of proof. As Ii told you in the first instance, we don't' wrant a bungled job. We want a case that's solid from end to end. When that young man starts to poison off his uncle " "You'd wait for that?" interrupted Magnum, incredulously. "Certainly. There's no great danger. Kahmos explained to him that it has to be done very gradually, so as to give the appearance of slow illness. The first dose won't effect much. We've got a footman into the old man's house on watch." "What is the poison?" "That we don't know as yet. Kahmos Kah-mos gave him the stuff we could tell from the interview as we heard over your phone arrangements but 1 naturally he didn't mention the name. When our man brings us in the Coffee dregs, we'll turn them over to you to analyze. ' ' It was not long before the latter part of the statement was fulfilled. Magnum's analysis or rather, the analysis made by his right-hand laboratory labora-tory man, Ivor Meredith proved the presence of one of the higher' alkaloids of the theobromine series, a drug with a depressive action on the heart. It is not an article of commerce; it would have to be specifically synthesized by one with an expert knowledge of organic chemistry. Magnum offered the opinion that Kahmos had prepared it himself, but had obtained it from some confederate, confed-erate, possibly on the continent. These details did not greatly concern con-cern Callaghan. His thoughts were now fixed on the handcuffing of the psychometrist. He looked at his watch. "Eleven-thirty. We'll take him at lunch time. He lunches regularly in a private room at the Bestaurant Sevilla, not a hundred yards from his place of business. That will make a quiet job of it. I don't believe in 'sensational arrests.' 'Neat, but not gaudy,' is a professional motto of mine." Magnum accompanied him from other oth-er than motives of mere curiosity. He had a lurking feeling that the arrest might not be so simple and straightforward straightfor-ward as the detective confidently expected. ex-pected. And, if by any chance Kahmos should slip through the fingers of the law, it would create a highly uncomfortable uncomfort-able situation for the scientist, for Kahmos Kah-mos was the kind of man to stick at nothing for revenge. Magnum was by no means pusillanimous, but he had a good stock of healthy, rational prudence. I He wanted to make sure that the detective's de-tective's staking of the penultimate act-should act-should be carried out to the prearranged ' ' curtain. ' ' At lunch time that morning Kahmos did not take his customary meal, at the restaurant Sevilla. After a wait of . nearly an hour, Callaghan phoned to the I police observatory flat on the top floor j of the residential house in the by-street, j The answer came that Kahmos "had not j left his house, though the secretary had j By MAX RITTENBERG Copvnght, Ml. by MfClurw Newspaper Syndicate. blv to the popular cafe she wns known to frequent. Callahan, niter a moment's mo-ment's consideration, detailed one ot his men to proceed there and arrest her first, as a precautionary measure. Within With-in ten minutes he learned that she had not called at the cafe that day A furrow fur-row deepened between the detective sieves. si-eves. He save crisp, rapid-fire orders. The two entrances to Kahmos 's house were to be quietlv guarded while he himself him-self and a trusted assistant went to make the arrest. Magnum was to proceed pro-ceed to the observatory flat and watch from there. A taxi was to wait, in the by-street in readiness to convey the prisoner pris-oner to the police station. Detective-Inspector ('allaehan and Sergeant Beece the one tall, alert, brisllv capable; the other a big. burly power'fullv muscled man dressed in civilian clothes, made their call at the courtyaVd entrance to the house of the psychometrist. The bell was answered by Kahmos 's butler. "Mr. Callaghan, is it not?" said the butler before the visitors had time to speak. "My master desired me to hand you this note. " He held out an envelope sealed with flame-colored wax the color which Kahmos Kah-mos had chosen for his inner sanctum and had adopted as an expression of his personality. Callaghan, -without answering, answer-ing, ripped open the envelope. "My dear sir," ran the message, "I much regret that an important engagement engage-ment in the country prevents me from staying to receive you. 1 had to leave this morning. Pray excuse me. " KAHMOS. ' ' This morning! Did that mockingly polite message mean that he had escaped es-caped in the guise of the girl secretary? secre-tary? It was quite possible. On the other hand, it might bo a "blind" Kahmos might still be in the house, concealed in some secret hiding place. Callaghan gripped hold of both possibilities. possi-bilities. "Arrest that man," said he, flashing a warrant. The sergeant carried car-ried out orders, taking his prisoner to the waiting taxi, and Callaghan went straight to the telephone on the secretarial secre-tarial desk and sent instructions to headquarters to watch railway stations and other likely resorts for Kahmos in the guise of a woman. Then he proceeded pro-ceeded to organize a thorough search. It was a small two-storied house, with cellars, but containing few rooms. They searched it with all the thoroughness and patient minuteness of Scotland Yard, tearing down draperies, tapping the walls behind for secret cupboards, pulling aside wardrobes and bureaus in order to search behind, taking up rugs and carpets for possible hiding places under the flooring. The search was fruitless. "He got wind of us and escaped this morning," admitted the detective to Magnum, late that afternoon, with a curtness that rough-covered the annoyance annoy-ance he was feeling. "Here's the note he left for me." Magnum examined it minutely, and then sniffed at the paper thoughtfully. "Written in the inner rooms," he remarked. re-marked. "It carries the fuanes from the brazier." 1 ' Probably got away in his woman secretary's clothes." "And she?" "Not in the' house. Might have put on some fashionable clothes and left earlier in the morning as an ostensible client. ' ' "Or he might have. ' ' "Ko. He was heard over your phone arrangement up to 12:30. The 'woman' was reported leaving the house at 1. That's how he went." " I 'd like to examine the house myself," my-self," said Magnum. "We've ransacked every corner." "Still " "Then come and! see for yourself." Magnum's first action was to go to Kahmos' bedroom and turn out all his suits, sniffing at them like a hound on the scent of a quarfy. "If he changed into the girl's clothes, where is his working suit?" asked Magnum. "It would reek of the fumes from the brazier." Callaghan himself sniffed at the various coats and waistcoats. "Wouldir't it be this suit?" "No too faint," replied Magnum decisively. de-cisively. "Then you think 1" "Find his working suit, and 111 believe be-lieve he escaped in the girl 's dress. Otherwise, Oth-erwise, he's somewhere in the house." Another long search ensued, without result. Finally Magnum and Callaghan, the latter with a revolver ready for emergencies, proceeded to the anteroom gone out to lunch at 1 o'cWv hung in blue draperies, u0 ,' 'N and lying in confused hean. !, The white marble .pbi'M? impassively with its sihH. "lv i i brazier still sent out "i ' f tJ't! T ' strongly than ever. S fum, "It makes one d of here!" "y' Let gel: He moved to the door leadi inner sanctum. It was It warn t locked before Callaghan sharply. je , on&) door by which they had Zl. " ' fi too. was closed with a sprhiB i i "He's inside the Magnum with a sudden In . "Quick, break it open' lnsP'tt They rushed at the hin. u marble trying to overtX it. -sisted their utmost efforts T-i, 1 from the brazier began to L; fc quickly than ever. CallagPa" , i.erately to the brazier VI r1i" beat down the fumes. "is " fi, was to fracture it and let th 7 full upon them. t6e S i, They staggered back, coun,: "bhoot through the lock"' 5,,, num. Lr'eiiJ!,. The detective lurched (lizzih. , ' the outer door, hut Magnum i revolver from him and Ti ? f fei through the inner door Tt ,"' heard bv telephone. ' m ': They fell to the floor unenn.,: Presently from the base of , a block of marble sw,,,,gMn' mos appeared. He breathed rk, V miner s rescue helmet ctmnectpfl"11! ' small cylinder of compressed air n !!' he stripped off theWi; and changed into them. SL , chance hope of being able through the cordon in the miiw laghan.,vas evidently in hi? m ?"-' But a pounding at the onter ,1 L , short his preparations. gotneo ,'' trying to smash .,, the panclij' ; inched up the revolver Magnum L ' charged, five chambers still Zt waited, crouching by the side 0f t ', conscious detective. 11 The door burst open. The burlv R-. was framed m the opening 3h i ' him another of the police for The sitnation stopped thern"011 ,, threshold. Magnum and Callaehi. i crumpled on the floor; Kahl, 1; holding the revolver against the (eS! tive s head.. He could not 8W, f cause ot the miner's helmet ' km V. pointed quickly with his left h. j . the revolver, and then waved i away. ""- Keece understood that Callaeha. r hostage. b H Getp-"called Eeeee, cov.,, The helmet eyes stared at him j-movably. j-movably. Set determination was i (.' poise of the body. If Bccce mow across the threshold, Kahmos ni blow out Callaghan 's brains. A terrible responsibility lav on tt-police tt-police sergeant. He thought wildlv C some moments. "Give yourself up, and we'll letTr out of the country," was his cleew,. ' The open door had let a swefri o' fresh air into the drug-smotheml ioot Magnum, semi-conscious, stirred in r! sponse to it, and his hand, rea;-gropingly rea;-gropingly out, came in contact wi Kahmos 's back. Kahmos, -with every nerve tensed r in this fight for freedom, judged it r attack from behind, and wheeled srt'ik In that instant, Heece saw his importunity,- and, risking his own'lii rushed forward on the criminal. A r volver shot found Magnum's thigh an-in an-in the next instant Beece was smntW-ing smntW-ing himself on the writhing Kins battering at his helmet-protected It was the helmet that haired Kahmos. "With eyes freed he itilt have sent home the other four shots" tf his revolver. As it was, the twitl helmet obscured his sight. A feeon-1 1 revolver shot chipped marhle off li' head of the sphinx. He was overpoir ered. The weapon was captured. In a few moments Kahmos. the poison merchant, was in steel bracelets. |